True Love Doesn't Fade
by serene-revival
Summary: Sakura finally admitted to Sasuke he loved her just before he left Konoha. Would 2 years without Sasuke be enough for her love to wither? (My first attempt at a fanfic, enjoy!) (Sasusaku)


I don't owe Naruto, sadly. Heh. Enjoy reading my first attempt at a fanfic, and leave a review!

**True Love Never Fades**

The passing clouds obscured the setting evening sun, casting a shadow over the 2 brothers facing off in the clearing.

Noises of distant battle trickled through the trees of the surrounding forest to their ears, a reminder of an on-going battle in the nearby Hidden Sound Village.

More likely, if the multiple invading forces continue to have their way, there wouldn't be a Hidden Sound Village by the next sunrise.

Neither Sasuke nor Itachi was overly sentimental about the eradication of a Hidden Village along withall of it's inhabitants.

Sasuke's face contorted in an unimaginable avatar of hatred. He snarled, mere words insufficient to convey his feelings towards Itachi. Releasing the power of his cursed seal one more time, Sasuke's appearance morphed into a monster, the type that little children are terrified of at night, complete with bat wings. In other words, Sasuke was in level 2 of his Cursed Seal.

Both brothers realized that neither of them was eager for a long, dramatic, tortured battle. A singular exchange of blows, that should be enough to end their feud, and may the victor.. rest in peace too.

Without moving an inch since he arrived in the clearing, Itachi closed his eyes.

Mangekyou Sharingan.

Sasuke initiated his trademark move, Chidori, a black, evil looking mass of visible chakra encompassing his left hand. Poised in a thrusting stance, he charged, with his eyes closed too.

At this moment, an unexpected intruder reached the edge of the clearing, having finally tracked the brothers down.

Her pink hair and red clothing both matted and drenchedin sweat, her eyes wide open in disbelief and fear as she spied Itachi, and.. that thing in Sasuke's clothing charging at Itachi with Chidori.

It had to be Sasuke.

After all, there were only 2 cursed souls of the Uchiha blood left alive in the world. One of them would die soon, perhaps both.

Sakura saw a glimpse of Sasuke earlier during Konoha's invasion of Hidden Sound.

_The invading nins, led by a rabid Naruto, Jiraya, and many others, barely finished tearing through the defenses of the Sound nins before they realized that Akatsuki had chosen the same time to strike at Orochimaru. _

_Her long dormant feelings for Sasuke had then suddenly awakened in the form of fear, as she spied a dead Akatsuki member in the midst of the ruins of the central pavilion where Orochimaru called home._

_Rushing to the frontline, ignoring the worried queries of her fellow medic nins, and the surprised looks of the blood splattered frontline nins, she made it in time to notice a familiar figure from both her wildest fantasies and most horrific nightmares, sporting the Uchiha fan on his back, disappear into the forest in hot pursuit of an Akatsuki member._

_Needless to say, she set off in pursuit too, the ongoing war the last thing on her mind. Her worried comrades were about to follow suit, when a sudden giant snake summons by the embattled Sound nins started to occupy their time._

At the clearing, Sakura drew her kunai, and prayed for the best.

Both Sasuke and Itachi opened their eyes at the same split second to reveal Mangekyou Sharingan, and both brothers called upon the black fire of Amaterasu to assist them. Both Amaterasus clashed in a burst of deadly black fire, and the resulting force threw both brothers backward, Sasuke creating a long groove in the soil before lying flat on his back, Itachi hitting a tree and slumping down in against the tree trunk, both brothers seriously if not mortally injured by their bloodlines, their destiny.

"Sasuke-kun!"

A barely conscious Sasuke, his curse seal subsiding, stiffened at the familiar phrase, spoken by a particular precious person he never thought he would ever see again.. especially after he chose to leave Konoha.

Through hazy vision, he glimpsed Sakura looking down at him, pink hair, green eyes, _large_forehead, cute nose and mouth. Sasuke realized she grew up into a woman over the 2 years he had left, and the tears that fell from her eyes onto his face told him he wasn't dead yet.

_No_, he thought. _I'm destined for hell, and Sakura won't be there for me_.

_Hell, with Itachi._ "Itachi.." Sasuke murmured in a worried tone. _Is he dead yet? What if.. Damn, Sakura could never stand against the likes of him! Of all times to appear.. Must ensure.._

At the mention of the pariah's name, Sakura looked up to see Itachi twitch.

Readying her kunai, she dashed forward in a sudden burst of rage, furious at the mythical Itachi that lay 50 meters in front of her against a tree trunk, who ruined and scarred Sasuke for life.

For the rest of her life, she could never recall what compelled her to attack such a dangerous S-rank missing nin head-on.

A weakened Itachi lifted his head up, saw Sakura charging with her kunai ready to stab, and closed his eyes.

Mangekyou Sharingan again.

"Too late!" Sakura screamed, as she lunged forward in a sudden burst of desperation-induced speed, and plunged the humble kunai into Itachi's heart just barely in time.

Time itself seemed to stop at that moment, as Itachi jerked forward. His eyes opened to reveal his accursed Mangekyou for the last time, yet he no longer had any strength to unleash any of his Mangekyou jutsus, nor do anything but to contemplate the end of his life.

The last thing Uchiha Itachi felt was the offending kunai slip free from his heart.

The last thing Uchiha Itachi saw was the bloody kunai guided by Sakura's hand plunge into his left eye.

The last thing Uchiha Itachi thought was about the irony of it all.

Rushing back to Sasuke's side after the deed was done, Sakura's sudden burst of adrenaline wore off, and she began to sob in both fear and relief as she rested Sasuke's head on her lap, and commenced her healing jutsus on him in a desperate frenzy.

"I'm sorry, I killed your brother, I hope you don't mind?" Sakura babbled between sobs.

_Itachi dead_? He raised his head slightly, and saw the corpse of his brother splayed on the ground. He slumped back, filled with a sudden sense of elation tinged with regret similar to what many graduates felt when they were to leave their academies with their goals fulfilled.

_Kakashi was correct.. Damn him again. The emptiness, after revenge. I feel it now.. so soon._

"Sakura.. Why are.. you here?" Sasuke croaked in a weak voice.

"We.. Konoha.. we came for Orochimaru, to put an end to him once and for all." Sakura's healing jutsu didn't waver, although her voice did.

"Oh.. I see."

"I came for you." Sakura mumbled in a barely audible voice.

_For me.. _

"Why are you healing an enemy nin then?"

"I don't see any enemies here, just an injured Sasuke-kun who lost his Konoha forehead protector." A tone of defiance crept into Sakura's voice.

Sasuke realised his forehead protector with the symbol of the Sound that he wore was missing. Something shiny caught his eye to the left, and he turned his head to see residual black flames feeding upon his forehead protector.

_Just like the downfall of Orochimaru.. and me. He had too many enemies._

"Sakura, enough."

Sasuke pushed himself into a sitting position, and tried to stand up. His limbs failed him, and he fell backwards into Sakura's arms.

"I'm sorry." He grunted, and tried to lift himself up again, when Sakura pulled him back down abruptly into an embrace, him sitting besides a kneeling Sakura..

"Don't leave me again.." Sakura began to weep again.

Distant memories flooded into Sasuke's mind then. Sakura was the only person apart from his mother who hugged him before, that time in the chunnin exam, when the curse seal first consumed him.

Orochimaru.. Sasuke smirked slightly at the thought of his adopted master, who he betrayed when it was apparent that Orochimaru would never allow him to seek out Itachi. Orochimaru was dead by now. A timely maiming by him at the most crucial moment, and the rest of the Akatsuki should be able to finish him off. He couldn't even feel his presence through the curse seal now.

_I'm a free person.. once more._

Some dormant part of him wanted to return to Konoha with Sakura, and be together with the rest of Team 7. Sasuke realized that that was no more than a pipe dream. He was a traitor, who would be dealt with once victorious Konoha got their hands on him.

"Sakura, I'm fine now. You should leave now. Go back before they find us, and accuse you of colluding with the enemy." Sasuke spoke in his normal tone again. Distant and cold.

"I won't leave.. Tsunade-sensei would understand. I.. we.. want you back."

Sasuke felt her teardrops wet his shoulder.

"I'll find a way to survive on my own." Sasuke knew he sounded as uncertain as he felt, and moved to unclasp Sakura's hands holding him at the waist.

Sakura tightened her embrace when she felt Sasuke trying to free himself. Sasuke paused.

"I realize that I'm selfish for wanting you to be with me.. but I really want you to be happy, not lonely by yourself. You might not want to be with me, but please come back and stay with us!" Sakura trembled as she spoke, relieving memories of their last farewell in Konoha 2 years back where she.. _failed_, whilst desperately wishing for that terrifying sense of déjà vu to go away.

"I've kept your apartment the way it was, I've been cleaning it for these 2 years, so you don't have to worry about having a place to stay! And.. and about the missing nin thing, I'll beg Tsunade-sensei to let you off easy, I'm her best apprentice and we know you were under the control of the seal, and.." Sakura continued to babble on, refusing to relent in her grip, recalling reasons, factoids, excuses thatshe composed in her mind over those 2 long years just to bepresented today, in the blind hope that _this_ would be enough this time.

"I'm sorry for saying it, but you should stop running away. Whether or not Konoha chooses to persecutes you.. it is your real and onlyhome after all."

Sasuke flinched at the memories he had of Konoha. So distant, yet so tempting to relieve them.. by going back.

"I've told you the other time, if you must leave, take me along with you? I'll still willing now.. Remember when you said your goal was to rebuild the Uchiha clan too? I'll help you do that too, even if you won't acknowledge me as your.." Sakura paused, and Sasuke could feel her cheeks blush as her head rested on his. _She still remembers every word I said?_

"I don't care if I'll be a missing nin too. I know what I want in life.. Sasuke-kun has been an important part of me for a very long time. You still are.. will always be." Her monologue finished, Sakura continued to sob.

Sasuke remained petrified in his position, caught up in a whirlwind of emotions. Barely registering any other emotion in the past beyond hatred, angst, envy, wrath, all in the name of revenge, he found it severely hard to digest again, love and affection that Sakura still showered him with.

_Do I really deserve all this love? _

He grasped Sakura's hands tighter.

_Is there anyone in my home willing to wait for me?_

He removed himself from Sakura's embrace. Emotionally spent, Sakura offered no resistance.

_I don't want to be alone again. _

Sasuke turned around.

_Neither do I want you to be alone._

Leaning forward slightly, Sasuke noticed a stray twig caught in Sakura's hair.

_I've made you cry too often, too much all this time._

Rediscovering a part of him again that Team 7 once unearthed beneath the hatred and angst in years gone by, Sasuke removed the stray twig from Sakura's hair, who looked up with swollen eyes.

"Stop crying. I don't want anyone who loves me to cry anymore."

Sakura's tears stopped, and her eyes widened slightly.

"I'll be yours if you still want me. In Konoha, or anywhere you prefer." Sasuke spoke semi-consciously. _I thought I lost you forever after I chose to leave._

They embraced each other again, both realizing that a new path in life just opened up for them.. to travel together.


End file.
